Looking for a place to store your important data? Whether you need to store tax records, business documents, investment certificates, wills or digital data, offsite storage can provide invaluable peace of mind. By using an offsite storage facility for your essential documents, you’ll ensure that even if something does happen to your home or business, your most valuable data will still be secure.
When looking for a place to store sensitive documents and data, evaluate your choices based on three factors:
1. Security
For important data, security is always biggest factor to consider. Before you choose an offsite storage facility, ask if that facility has security features like:
- 24-hour video surveillance
- Motion-sensitive lighting
- Gated perimeter
- Electronic coded access
It’s better to ask these questions in the beginning of the evaluation process than after you’ve locked yourself into a long-term contract with the facility. To keep your most valuable documents safe from theft or fire, consider keeping them in a fire-safe lock box in your storage unit. For digital content, always use a password.
2. Protection
The most important thing you can do to protect your data is to create backups and keep them in a separate location. Also, you can keep your information safe from water damage inside your storage unit by storing it on a palette and using airtight packaging. Take extra care to protect paper documents by keeping them away from newspaper, since the print can rub off. If you’re storing digital content, consider anti-static packaging.
3. Ease of Access
How easy will it be to access your stored data for future use? Even if you don’t think you’ll need your archived documents often, you still won’t want to deal with the hassle of travelling 45 minutes to your storage unit on a weekday every time you want to access a document. Before you sign up with a storage facility just because it’s the cheapest in your state, make sure it is close enough to accommodate frequent trips and features with business hours that will make it accessible during an emergency.
Finally, when storing documents and data, it’s vital to keep detailed records. All containers need to be clearly labeled, and a record book should be updated with which documents are in which box. Make sure the most used documents are in the front of the storage unit, while the least necessary ones are in the back, on the bottom or the pile.
Looking for a secure self storage facility near you where you can store sensitive documents? Find Lock Up self storage facilities.
